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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, speaking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s merely an investment tip from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the biggest mistake you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, the majority of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the message that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Obsession

Naturally, my connection with this movie wasn’t born on such an introspective level. In my youth, we were limited to a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store and boasting grimacing beasts on its worn-out artwork. I was instantly captivated and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the plaudits, thanks largely to its status as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. However, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of high regard, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it etched itself permanently in my mental framework. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Discoveries and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I matured, new revelations enriched repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon future president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp has more heart than his real-life counterpart.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film alternate cuts of a self-aware scene where Gremlins seize control of the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, one for VHS and TV, each delivering a smirking slice of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Influence

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no qualms revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of poking fun at those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This cartoonish insubordination and determination to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I went through a abrupt familial death recently, I was surprised to find that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it offered was essential to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.